_________________ bellmore ________________
CommUNItY UPDAtE Infections as of July 1
8,281
Infections as of June 23 8,271
$1.00 $1.00
HERALD
Collecting for a good cause
Practice beach safety for wildlife
Students step up in Bellmore
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Vol. 24 No. 28
JUlY 8 - 14, 2021
Built Well Solar marks 20 years . . . I helped put it on friends’ houses over weekends. I opened up a corporation to buy the Built Well Solar, a pioneer of materials wholesale, and after solar energy on Long Island with about a year, I said, I guess I’m in its roots in Bellmore, is celebrat- business. ing 20 years in business. “From there,” he added, “the The company provides solar rest is history.” panels and installation services Today, Built Well’s work for homes and busistretches from n e s s e s. S i n c e i t Elmont to Montauk, opened, it has helped with solar panels on transform the look homes, stores, of Long Island, with schools and librarm o re t h a n 5 , 0 0 0 ies. The industry has installations. faced many ups and Two decades ago, downs, Sabia said, seeing a solar panel but Built Well has atop a Long Island made it 20 years home was rare. The DAN SABIA thanks to a unique, first of its kind on buyer-focused apt h e I s l a n d w a s Owner and founder, proach. What sets installed by Built Built Well Solar the company apart We l l ow n e r D a n from similar busiSabia on his home in nesses is who ends North Bellmore. The home was up owning the solar panels. the first on Long Island to join Many companies lease them to the Solar Pioneer incentive pro- homeowners, leaving new solar gram offered by the Long Island panel users with less financial Power Authority, which was benefit — as well as the potential later taken over by PSEG Long headaches that can come with Island. not fully owning a piece of your “I started the business in 2001, roof. Built Well, however, encourand it wasn’t something I ages buyers to take full ownerplanned on doing,” Sabia, a Bell- ship of their panels. more native, said. “I had a pasAfter three to five years, the sion for solar energy, and I put solar energy on my own house Continued on page 12
By ANDREW GARCIA agarcia@liherald.com
A
Courtesy North Bellmore School District
Sixth-graders move on up Retiring Park Avenue Elementary School Principal Eileen Speidel bade farewell to Gibreel Kassim and Lilliana Palmeri before the moving-up ceremony last month. Story, more photos, Page 3.
JFK senior is a ‘teen of impact’
Jessica Kane wins Heart Association award By JoRDAN VAlloNE jvallone@liherald.com
Jessica Kane, 17, an incoming senior at John F. Kennedy High School, was recently named the Greater NYC Teen of Impact by the American Heart Association. After raising more than $18,000 for women’s heart health in just eight weeks, Kane was awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the AHA. The Teen of Impact initiative, created by the organization just
this year, is a national competition in which nominees form an “impact team,” set goals and explore fundraising opportunities in their local communities, all in the interest of improving women’s heart health. Kane, who was nominated for founding Heart of Wellness, a club that promotes physical and emotional well being, took part in the initiative in the greater New York City area. Kane, who lives in Bellmore,
keeps busy with numerous extracurricular activities at Kennedy. Besides her involvement in HOW, she is a captain of the cheer team, the social media manager for the Hope Club and president of the Yoga Club. The Teen of Impact competition started in late April, so Kane had to quickly assemble a team and begin fundraising. She was nominated Dr. Allison Continued on page 4
fter about a year, I said, I guess I’m in business.